"It's nasty if you break your hip. You may never be mobile again if you're older. With head injuries, some people die of it."
"A lot of elderly people choose not to go out [for fear of falling]. So they get no exercise and they get depressed and isolated."
Geoff Fernie, research director, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute

Experience helps. We learned the necessity of acquiring and using reliable hiking boots capable of meeting the challenges of every kind of terrain when we embarked on wilderness canoe-camping expeditions, as well as alpine climbing forays, of which we did plenty in our younger years. The type of boot worn in the challenge of meeting criteria of efficiency, safety and usefulness taught us to look for certain indices of design and material guaranteeing reliability.

Among which was the critical need for non-slip soles and heels. There is a huge difference between man-made 'rubber' and natural rubber, particularly in certain climates like Canada's. As soon as winter weather arrives the challenge of asserting one's intention to continue life as usual meets nature's elements of a cold atmosphere, blustery winds and frozen precipitation proper footgear is essential. A non-slip boot is critical to guarantee safety of life and limb.

Any boot whose sole is comprised of non-natural material simulating rubber but lacking the flexibility under icy conditions of rubber, can be a death trap. Normally malleable and non-slip under ideal conditions, all that changes as soon as the temperature drops sufficiently and the suppleness and grip relied upon disappears when manufactured 'rubber' hardens and the grip potential disappears in winter weather.

So this makes it all the more remarkable that in a Canadian market the vast majority of winter boots available to the consuming public fail to meet the most basic, minimal standards of winter safety. The Toronto Rehabilitation Institute rated winter boots on the Canadian market by testing the viability under adverse weather conditions of 98 models of safety and casual boots. A full 90 percent failed to meet the minimum standard.

Volunteers were asked to walk across a surface covered with ice. That surface, while beginning at a level condition experiences a slow gradient tilt. The boots are rated on their ability to grip an incline of seven degrees minimum, representing the slope analogous to a wheelchair ramp on a sidewalk. If they succeed they merit a 'snowflake' in recognition. Two snowflakes if 11 degrees is manageable. Fifteen degrees' success rates three snowflakes.

The Toronto Rehabilitation Institute points out that emergency wards in Ontario address 21,000 injuries caused by slipping on ice each winter season. They have posted their ratings online at ratemytreads.com.